NFL

Redskins fall to 3-12 with 24-23 loss to Cowboys

LANDOVER, Md. (AP)

Mike Shanahan is waiting until the bitter end of his worst
season in two decades as an NFL head coach to discuss why things
went so wrong for the Washington Redskins.

The Redskins dropped to 3-12 on Sunday with their seventh
consecutive loss - and second in a row by one point - by blowing a
nine-point lead in the fourth quarter and falling 24-23 to the
Dallas Cowboys.

It's Washington's longest losing streak since 1998. The team
will finish last in the NFC East for the third time in Shanahan's
four seasons in charge - the 5-11 record in 2011 was his previous
low mark with the Raiders, Broncos or Redskins - and the fifth time
in the past six years.

So Shanahan was asked whether he could put his finger on what,
exactly, were the problems.

''We'll address that at the end of the season. There's always a
lot of things that you go back and you take a look at,'' replied
Shanahan, who won two Super Bowls as Denver's coach with John Elway
at quarterback. ''But collectively, we'll talk more in detail at
the end of the season.''

Some of his players did offer theories, albeit in vague terms,
without naming names, after letting Tony Romo recover from a bad
interception to lead Dallas (8-7) to the victory.

Romo capped the comeback by connecting with DeMarco Murray for a
go-ahead 10-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 68 seconds
left; after that play, dozens of players from both teams scuffled
near the end zone.

That closed a nine-play, 87-yard drive that included a 51-yard
completion to a wide-open Terrance Williams.

''Coming into the game, you expect everybody to have their
assignments down,'' Redskins linebacker Perry Riley said. ''That
wasn't the case that last drive.''

Defensive tackle Barry Cofield considered Sunday's
fourth-quarter collapse symbolic of the sort of mistakes Washington
has been making week after week.

''That's been the story of the season: We really haven't
controlled the momentum of games. A lot of times negativity has
spiraled out of control. We have a tendency to let negative
momentum drag us down instead of building on positive momentum and
having all three phases play well at the same time,'' Cofield said.
''And that's why we are where we are.''

This was the last home game for Redskins captain London
Fletcher, who plans to retire after never missing a game in 16 NFL
seasons, including 214 consecutive starts, a record for a
linebacker.

And he reiterated that he believes Shanahan, who has one season
left on a $35 million, five-year contract, should be kept around by
owner Dan Snyder.

''They know how I feel about Coach Shanahan. I've been around
this game a long time, and probably in D.C., some stability would
be great. Coach Shanahan, he's headed in the right direction, as
far as the team,'' Fletcher said.

''Any time you go ... 3-12, you know there's going to be change.
But the best thing would be to let a little bit of time (pass), get
away from the season, decompress, let cooler heads prevail, and
then go out and evaluate the situation and say, `What's the best
thing for the Redskins organization?'''

Notes: WR Pierre Garcon broke Hall of Famer Art Monk's Redskins
record for catches in a season by getting No. 107. Garcon finished
with 11 catches for 144 yards and a TD. Monk had 106 catches in
1984. ''It's pretty cool, but with the season going on, it's pretty
hard to celebrate anything right now,'' Garcon said. ... Kirk
Cousins, in his second straight start in place of benched QB Robert
Griffin III, went 21 of 36 for 197 yards, one touchdown and one
interception. ... Redskins LB Brian Orakpo left in the fourth
quarter with a strained right groin. ... LB Nick Barnett left in
the first quarter with a sprained left knee after getting hurt on a
special teams play.

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